At the present time, the average person spends many hours of each week watching various programs on a television receiver. In metropolitan areas, there usually are several television stations which are simultaneously broadcasting different program material. A person who desires to watch particular programs on various channels at different times on different days must have some type of guide or reminder to assist him in tuning the set to the correct channel at the correct time. The most common form of guide in present use is a booklet, either furnished with a local newspaper or printed specifically for the purpose of showing weekly program listings for a given area. These printed program listings, however, obviously carry all of the program material for the time period covered by the publication; and for any given viewer most of this material is unwanted and irrelevant. In making an initial selection of the desired programs, such program guides are necessary; but once a determination has been made as to what programs a person wishes to view on any particular day or evening, the guide is no longer necessary.
After reviewing the listings from a television program guide, most persons cannot remember all of the programs on the different channels he wishes to watch on successive days. Thus, it is necessary either to refer to the guide every day or to make a separate list of the program material which is desired to be viewed. Some program guides have been used in the past which are associated directly with the television set or radio receiver. These have included clock-driven belt logs having preprinted time intervals on them and particular entries for the program material available in the area with which the television or radio receiver is used. Such devices permit the viewer to check the time against the display on the log and then take whatever action is deemed appropriate following such a check. Some program indicators of this clock-driven type have included a provision for writing in variable program information. In most cases, however, the display of program material is limited to a rather restricted time interval, generally closely associated with the actual time of day. As a consequence, if a person is interested in determining what program material he wishes to view on subsequent days or at times other than the particular time span immediately viewable on the display, he cannot make such a determination from the display itself.
It is desirable to provide a television program reminder which is easy to operate to enter the variable television program information needed to identify particular television programs, the day and time on which they appear, and the channel on which such programs are presented. Ideally such a reminder system should include a provision for permitting display of the program information for a number of days ahead of a particular day at the option of the user. Also, it is desirable to have such a display in an easily readable form, either as a presentation on a display panel or as printed copy. Finally, such a reminder system should be one which may be used directly in conjunction with the television receiver so that its location is convenient to the television receiver itself.